Worst Things Come in Pairs
by HilsonMarvey27
Summary: After breaking up with Quinn, Barney returns to an old bad habit and picks up an even worse one. Can the gang help him before he completely self-destructs? Warnings: gambling addiction and drug use and addiction (and swearing).
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Wow, I suck. I haven't updated in like forever on anything, but I'm posting a new multi-chapter hurt!addicted!Barney fic. This has spoilers for the two-part finale of season 7 and general season 8 spoilers. I don't have a HIMYM beta, so all mistakes are mine.**

**Warnings: gambling addiction, drug use and addiction, and swearing.**

It's kind of ironic, in a depressing kind of way. I mean, they had seemed concerned about his problem at first, a little protective, even. Now, though, Barney knew that his problem would pale in comparison to all the different challenges the others were facing. So what if he relapsed in his gambling addiction, shit happens, and he should learn to deal with it himself. So what if another, more pressing addiction seemed to be forming. Again, shit happens.

Or so Barney continued to tell himself before the first incident.

It started when he took Marshall to Atlantic City right before Lily went into labor. It was strange – good strange – to be back in a casino. It felt familiar, and as much as he hated to admit it, it felt relaxing yet stimulating. But Barney was there for a purpose: he was doing this for Marshall's benefit, not his.

When they found out Lily was in labor that immediately kicked him into gear. He had to find a way to get Marshall back to New York City as quickly as possible. God knows how the hell he did it, but they made it. Marshall got to be with his beautiful wife for the birth of his first child, Marvin Wait for It Erikson.

For a few days Barney completely forgot about the allure of the neon signs, the sound of the slots spinning, and the varying sounds of either heartbreak or unadulterated joy depending on how someone was faring. He forgot about all that he was missing and focused on all that he had and would hopefully have for the rest of his life. I mean, sure, Quinn wasn't his first choice, but Robin had made it clear that they were a bad idea and he had respected her wishes. He tried to ignore how much that hurt him and he focused on Quinn. Quinn actually seemed to want him, to love him despite his many flaws.

_Seemed _to.

When they broke up only a short time later, he felt like someone had ripped the ground out from under him and he had no idea what to do. He was well and truly lost and the whole gang was too distracted with everything happening in their own lives for him to burden them with his own. So he dealt with it himself.

Sitting alone in his now empty looking apartment, Barney had remembered it: the lights, the joy, and most of all, the _rush_. Nothing could beat the pure _rush _that he experienced when he was gambling. It didn't even matter what the bet was – cards, slots, racing, sports – they all filled him with that damn _rush. _

He didn't tell the others, though. Not when he started going once a week. Not when he started going five days a week. Definitely not when he started testing some of the other "activities" performed near the casinos he frequented.

Now, he would usually be the first to admit that he has never really followed the "socially acceptable" or the "social norm", but he never traveled so deep or strayed so far. Sure, he had dabbled in some soft-core recreational drugs, but never anything like this; never anything so addictive.

It was three entire months after he broke up with Quinn before anyone figured even a little bit of it out. He'd already been completely addicted to both the cocaine and the gambling for two whole months.

The five of them were sitting in their booth at MacLaren's as usual, casually sipping their drinks (all beers except Barney's scotch) when Ted hesitantly broached the subject.

"So, how 'bout you, Barney, what did you do today? Or should I say 'who'?"

Everyone had been acting a little protective of him since he broke-up with Quinn. Sometimes they were obvious about it. They would stop by his office or his apartment just to "hang out", but he knew they were all trying to gauge his emotional status. Other times, they were just so blatantly obvious about it. Like now. Before Quinn, they would never willingly offer to be subject to the tales of his most recent "sexcapades".

"Eh. Slow day for the Barnacle. I stayed at work almost the entire day; I even had my lunch delivered." He knew his response was extremely uncharacteristic, but it's not like he could tell them that he spent all of yesterday in a casino, high as a kite, and he was way too exhausted to come into work until about one o'clock this afternoon. His response provoked a few concerned and slightly suspicious looks.

"Really? That's strange, because I stopped by your office around ten and you weren't in." Even though Ted didn't phrase his sentence as a question, it was obvious that he wanted an answer. They all did, if the attentive and suspicious expressions facing his way meant anything.

"Okay, okay, I lied. I'm sorry guys, I know you're always on my ass about 'over-sharing' so I thought that I'd attempt to appease all of you, but obviously you guys feel you _need _to hear about every chick I bang. So, this morning I was walking into GNB, when I was stopped by this new intern they hired. She had the _biggest_—ow! Dammit, Lily! I was gonna say 'stack of papers', you didn't have to slap me!"

"Sorry…past experience and all." Lily muttered looking down at the table while the others smirked in amusement.

"_Anyway_, she had the biggest stack of papers in her hands and so I offered to hold them for her, but then five minutes later we were in the supply closet and I was holding a huge rack instead of huge stack. Whaddup?"

Barney raised his hand for a high-five, carefully keeping his usual grin plastered on his face. Ted reluctantly high-fived him, only because it was in the Bro Code and Barney would throw a hissy fit if he broke it again.

Luckily, his lie reminded Robin of something that happened at the World Wide News today, so the conversation was hastily shifted away from his most recent (fake) encounter. He didn't miss the way that Ted continued staring at him a little longer than necessary, though; as he seemed to be try to decipher what Barney could be hiding.

An hour or so later, Barney and Ted were the only two remaining members of their group in the booth. Barney had begun fidgeting as he felt the cravings (for the rush or the cocaine, he didn't even know anymore) return in full force. He kept glancing at his watch, calculating how much longer he thought he had to stay before he could leave without it seeming out of character. Barney jumped slightly when Ted broke the comfortable silence that had settled over them.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Barney swallowed. Their friendship didn't delve into deep feelings territory very often.

"Yeah, Ted. I do."

"Then can you tell me where you really were this morning?"

**A/N: This is going to be a few chapters, I'm not sure how many, but I'd love to know what you think. Is it worth continuing? Is it good? Bad? Okay? Other? **

**Reviews are love people!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the slow update. I have many reasons why and I could elaborate, but I'll just get to the story. Hopefully updates will be quicker and more routine soon.**

**Please review and favorite! Hope you enjoy!**

"Then can you tell me where you really were this morning?"

Barney froze at the quietly spoken words. His heart rate skyrocketed as he attempted to maintain his usual demeanor despite it getting more difficult to take a deep breath. He swirled the scotch in his glass for a moment before downing the tumbler's remaining contents. He resolutely kept his gaze locked unto the table when he replied, equally quiet and sincere as the previous question.

"No." The word obviously surprised Ted, hell it even surprised himself, since normally Barney would be bullshitting some half-assed story about a busty bimbo in a bar, but not this. It was like he was admitting defeat to something, but at the same time rebelling against something else, something stronger. Barney chanced a glance to Ted's expression and swallowed hard at what he saw. He had expected confusion, suspicion, or even anger, but the disbelief struck him differently somehow.

It was if Ted was more surprised at the fact that Barney was not bothering to hide the fact that he was hiding something, than the fact that Barney confirmed that he had a secret. Barney shifted his gaze to Wendy as she walked past their booth and signaled for her to get him more scotch in lieu of looking at his best friend's expression again. He didn't know if he could manage without caving.

"Why not?" Minutes had passed in silence as the two had reflected on their brief exchange, only to be broken by the question that was obviously going to be asked after his cryptic reply. But even having known that the question was coming, Barney was still unprepared to answer it. What could he say to assuage any major concerns that Ted had while still being convincing at the same time? During his silent panic Barney was briefly saved by Wendy bringing over his scotch.

"I just can't, okay?" The words had left his mouth before he was even aware that he had been thinking them, let alone voicing them. Fuck, did he regret them. Any possibility of staving off any of Ted's suspicions were just demolished as he only made them stronger and more founded. "I mean-, I just-" Barney clumsily tried to fix his mishap but it was too late. The damage had already been done. And if the look on Ted's face meant anything, then the real fallout was yet to come and would be monumentally worse.

For a moment, Barney considered letting his friend in; accepting the open invitation of help and understanding.

For a moment, keeping his lie actually seemed worse than it would be to tell his friends what was going on.

But then he remembered.

The first night that he had gotten high had been glorious. Everything was more exciting and he felt more alive than ever. Things had been perfect. But then, as all good things do, it came to a tragic end. He had felt himself crashing, the drug leaving his system and not in a gradual, somewhat peaceful way, but in a horrifically quick and painful way. Barney had felt terrible and had allowed himself a moment of weakness and had called Ted. He hadn't answered, thank God, but he heard his friend's voicemail and for some reason he was reminded by Ted's voice that even if things got this bad, he could never tell the gang.

All because of what they would say. He would no longer be the carefree, sexy best friend with all the great stories and experiences. He'd be the drug addict who fucked up when things got tough. He'd be seen as weak, a person to pitied. And if there was a single thing in life that Barney hated the most: it was being pitied. He had been pitied for as long as he could remember. For his absent father, not having any friends in school, not having sex until he was in his mid-twenties, and now for breaking up with his fiancé. His whole life he had been pitied. He would not add another reason to be pitied to the already long list.

So Barney didn't tell Ted this night. Not about his gambling and not about drug issues. He told himself that he didn't want to put any unnecessary stress on his friends, and while that was a contributing factor, he knew that the main reason he didn't was because he didn't want to be pitied. Not anymore. Even though Ted had been patiently, expectantly waiting for his answer Barney just let him down. Wasn't that all he was good at? Letting people down.

Barney quickly got out of the booth; he made sure to leave money for his drinks, but outright ignored Ted calling his name. Without a second glance Barney exited the bar, hastily jogging up to the side of the road to hail a cab. He needed to get to Atlantic City. Fast.

xXx

"Guys, we have a problem." Ted announced, opening the door to Marshall and Lily's apartment, pleased to see that all members of the group minus the blonde were already there. Three pairs of eyes turned to him, confused expressions forming as they considered what he could be referring to. "It's Barney."

With just two words comprehension immediately dawned on their faces. They had all noticed Barney's change in behavior. Sometimes it was a small difference such as being extra jittery or hyper, but other times they'd catch Barney checking his watch multiple times in an hour and lacking a convincing explanation as to why. While they had all been concerned since Quinn and Barney broke up, their concern has only continued to grow since then.

"Did you find out anything?" They were all really counting on Ted in the information discovery area, because while Barney had opened up to Lily about liking Robin first, he most likely only did so because he knew that it was not a conversation that he could have with Ted considering their joint pasts regarding Robin. Therefore, they left confronting Barney one-on-one to Ted for now. Though if he neglected to speak about things much longer or if things got worse, they would try to confront him themselves.

"Well, I finally asked him what he had been doing this morning but he didn't answer." Ted responded, taking a seat in the unoccupied armchair near the closest to the door.

"Did he deflect by turning the conversation to something pervy again?" The new mother inquired. The all knew about Barney's tendency to shift a conversation from something meaningful and serious to sex and booze.

"Actually, no. I had asked him where he had been this morning, and all he said was 'No'." The four adults in the room exchanged looks of concern and could tell they were all thinking the same thing.

Could this be even worse than they thought?


End file.
